Cadet-Captain Mike's Guide to Basic Piracy
Part 5: Ships and Tactics

How to pick a good ship or crew? You might consider how you plan to use them. If your preferred style is swashbuckling combat, then ships that are meant for collecting gold might not be a good fit. Here's my take on the most common tactics and what kinds of ships work well for them.

With several battles under your belt, you'll learn which styles of piracy suit you best, and which ships perform best for you. There is no perfect fleet; you'll always be experimenting with different ships and crew, if only to keep your enemy off guard.

Keep in mind that some ships are made for one purpose, and are very good at their intended role, but not for much else. Others can play any role you choose, depending on the crew you put on them. Some are so cheap that, even though they can't do much, anything they do will pay their way. And some ships are just inferior, or overpriced for their abilities. If you can't think of a role for one of your ships, it may be the ship designer's fault, not yours.

When all is said and done, the best course to victory on the high seas is this:

  1. Make a plan. Consider what style you like best, whether you have the ships to carry out that style, and what style your enemy is likely to try.
  2. Choose your ships and crew to fulfill that plan. Try to allow a little flexibility in case the battle doesn't go the way you expected.
  3. Go forth and conquer! Arrr!

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